Home pagePress CenterIn the Media Rick Barton, codirector of the CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project, and Julianne Smith, director of the CSIS Europe Program, were quoted by Government Executive, "Shortage of helicopters hampers troops in Afghanistan, observers say."
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Rick Barton, codirector of the CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project, and Julianne Smith, director of the CSIS Europe Program, were quoted by Government Executive, "Shortage of helicopters hampers troops in Afghanistan, observers say."
When President Bush travels to the NATO summit this week he is expected to push member nations to commit additional ground forces to Afghanistan to battle a resurgent Taliban force. While additional troops will help, some say the need for more helicopters to ferry soldiers and equipment on the battlefield is just as critical. [. . .]
he helicopter shortfall is critical because Afghanistan's nascent security forces, spread out in isolated security posts, cannot depend on U.S. and European military firepower if they run into sizable Taliban groups. The Afghan security forces "need to know that they can be saved when they are being attacked," said Rick Barton, director of the Post Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions; accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in these publications should be understood to be solely those of the authors.
